LETTER: Walton County businesses stand and be heard

By Gary Shipman

Published: Saturday, November 23, 2013 at 09:00 AM.

Gary Shipman is spokesperson for the
Walton
County
Small Business Association. Formed in September 2013, the WCSBA is an organization of small business owners in
Walton
County
whose purpose is to serve as a conduit of information concerning issues which impact small businesses in
Walton
County
and to provide a collective voice for the business community.

Undeterred by uncertainty among the Walton County Commissioners at the last county board meeting, the Walton County Small Business Association will continue to press the county into appointing key departments to the Blue Ribbon Committee, to enable further detailed studies.

As we have said all along, we wish to be part of the solution, not just be complainers. While there appears to be a difference in opinion among the commissioners, the primary goal should be for the good of the county, and the Blue Ribbon Committee would go a long way to achieve that.

Since the last BCC meeting, the Walton County Small Business Association has reached out to the major players invited to participate, namely the Walton County Sheriff's Office, the South Walton Fire District, the Tourist Development Council, South Walton Community Council, Walton County Taxpayers Association and others.

Our organization now represents 180 small businesses, which in turn employ thousands of WaltonCounty residents and registered voters.

It would appear that their immediate support of the group suggests that there is a need to be heard regarding these drastic changes to ordinances. It is amazing to us that the county would attempt to enact sweeping changes on parking while a parking study is still underway. That can be seen as being very short-sighted, or a waste of public money if not going to at least look at the study results.

One of the contentions regards the workshop system in place within the county. The process currently entails public input regarding proposed changes, however no feedback is ever given back by the county staff whether suggestions would ever be implemented, giving the impression that the decisions are made on the ordinances regardless of the input.

The next Walton County Commissioners meeting is set for Nov. 26 when the matter is set for a final vote.

Gary Shipman is spokesperson for the WaltonCounty Small Business Association. Formed in September 2013, the WCSBA is an organization of small business owners in WaltonCounty whose purpose is to serve as a conduit of information concerning issues which impact small businesses in WaltonCounty and to provide a collective voice for the business community.